t. Never since the spacious days of
Elizabeth has she been in such danger. Never, in any crisis, has she
risen to so lofty a height of self-sacrifice and achievement. In the
giant struggle against Napoleon, England's own safety was secured by the
demoralisation of the French fleet. But in this contest the German naval
authorities have at their disposal a fleet of extraordinary efficiency,
and have devised for use on an extended scale the most formidable and
destructive of all instruments of marine warfare. In previous coalitions
England has partially financed her continental allies; in this case the
expenditures have been on an unheard-of scale, and in consequence
England's industrial strength, in men and money, in business and
mercantile and agricultural ability, has been drawn on as never before.
As in the days of Marlborough and Wellington, so now, England has sent
her troops to the continent; but whereas formerly her expeditionary
forces, although of excellent quality, were numerically too small to be
of primary importance, at present her army is already, by size as well
as by excellence, a factor of prime importance, in the military
situation; and its relative as well as absolute importance is
steadily growing.

And to her report of the present stage of Great Britain's effort in the
war, Mrs. Ward has added some letters describing from her own personal
experience the ruin wrought by the Germans in towns like Senlis and
Gerbeviller, and in the hundreds of villages in Northern, Central, and
Eastern France that now lie wrecked and desolate. And she has told in
detail, and from the evidence of eye-witnesses, some of the piteous
incidents of German cruelty to the civilian population, which are
already burnt into the conscience of Europe, and should never be
forgotten till reparation has been made.

Mrs. Ward's book is thus of high value as a study of contemporary
history. It is of at least as high value as an inspiration to
constructive patriotism.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

SAGAMORE HILLS,

_May 1st_, 1917.

CONTENTS

No. 1

England's Effort--Rapid March of Events--The Work of the Navy--A Naval
Base--What the Navy has done--The Jutland Battle--The Submarine
Peril--German Lies--Shipbuilding--Disciplined Expectancy--Crossing the
Channel--The Minister of Munitions--Dr. Addison--Increase of
Munitions--A Gigantic Task--Arrival in France--German Prisoners--A Fat
Factory--A Use for Everything--G.H.Q.--Intelligenc